by Riley Bauling
Daily Lobo
Coming in second this time didn't bother Jeff Rowland at all.
The senior UNM men's soccer player was runner-up for the Hermann Trophy Award given to the nation's top college soccer player on Friday at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis, Mo.
Senior forward Jason Garey of Maryland - the team to beat the Lobos 1-0 for the national championship - won the award after leading the country in points with 51 and goals scored with 22.
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Rowland, a former non-recruited walk-on, said he's not forgetting his Lobo tenure any time soon, especially UNM's run through the NCAA Tournament this year.
"It was a pretty wild ride," Rowland said. "You couldn't have asked for it to be one step better, well, except of course to win the whole thing. But it's really just been an amazing ride the past four years."
The other finalist for the Hermann Trophy was Indiana senior forward Brian Plotkin.
Rowland led UNM with 16 goals and four assists for 36 points. He was also a consensus All-American selection for the second year in a row - the first Lobo soccer player ever to accomplish that feat. He ended his four years at UNM third in points scored, second in goals and ninth in assists.
Rowland's three goals in the NCAA Tournament included two overtime game-winners to propel the Lobos to their first ever national championship game. UNM finished the 2005 season with an 18-2-3 record.
Rowland doesn't harbor any qualms about Garey winning the award.
He was just happy to be there at all.
"He deserved it," Rowland said. "He scored twenty-something goals two seasons for two straight seasons. I'm not shocked or surprised that I didn't win it."
There might not be any ill will now, but that might change come Jan. 12 when Rowland and Garey face off in the Major League Soccer Combine in Carson, Calif.
Rowland, along with fellow seniors Lance Watson and Brandon Moss, were invited to attend the four-day combine which takes place five days before the MLS SuperDraft. Coaching staffs and general managers from all 12 MLS teams will be at the combine where they will watch the 54 invitees play in scrimmages to decide which players they will take in the draft on Jan. 20. Of the 48 players taken in the four rounds of the 2005 draft, 39 of them had participated in the combine. Two of those not taken were ex-Lobos Jeff Krause and Hans Bevers.
Rowland admits that he's been a little rattled about what his future might hold since the Lobos' season ended at the hands of the Terrapins.
"I'm of course a bit nervous," he said. "I'm just out in the dark about everything. I just want to know what the next chapter in my life is going to be."
Rowland is 18 credits shy of his degree in marketing, but he plans to take next semester off to try his hand at playing professionally.
He's not giving up on school completely though.
"I plan on getting (my degree) at some point," he said.
